Frequently Asked Questions

Play through toys helps the children distract their minds from their hazardous environments. It helps them from succumbing to the distress caused by their circumstances.

When you give a child food, you are helping him, but he won't exactly understand the importance of it. But when you give a small child a beautiful toy to play with, you are actually giving him a childhood, and that is something he can immediately understand and appreciate. These are children, and they should be playing and doing the things that all children do. They shouldn't be working in rice fields, or doing manual labor, or doing so many other things that they are forced to do out of poverty.

Play is a cherished part of childhood that offers children important developmental benefits and parents the opportunity to fully engage with their children. As we strive to create the optimal developmental milieu for children, it remains imperative that play be included along with academic and social-enrichment opportunities and that safe environments be made available to all children.

Why are you working for the development through play? What about other important issues such as poverty?

Toybank tries to help children to the best of our ability by giving them something that makes their life better. By giving them a nice toy they also can have a childhood like we did. This may not make any impact on the overall vast poverty in India, but it will make an impact in the life of that one child that we helped.

Why work
with toys, when there are far more pressing issues to be tackled, such as malnutrition
and child sexual abuse?

Children from underprivileged backgrounds are especially vulnerable to malnutrition,
hunger, health problems, and substance abuse, as well as physical and sexual abuse.
Because of these factors, they are prone to childhood and adolescent depression.
Play distracts children from their hazardous or stressful environments and is a
form of therapy.

These challenging environments also hamper the educational journey of the children.
Educational toys help improve their cognitive, social and language skills.

The sheer happiness that a toy brings a child boosts their physical and mental health.

How can I help?

Please consider volunteering with us! You can find more information on our ‘Volunteers’
page. Or you could organise a toy collection drive in your residential complex or
workplace.

Alternatively, you could donate to your favourite NGO! Donation details are available
on our ‘Donate’ page.

We accept only those toys which are clean and in good condition. Broken and non-functioning
toys are not accepted.

Toys that promote violence, such as toy guns, pistols, and battle-based games, are
not accepted.

Please do not donate toys with sharp edges or cheap plastic.

Barbie dolls are not accepted, because they are lifestyle toys that could create
a negative self-image in children.

Teething toys are not accepted because of hygiene issues.

Is there
a membership fee for becoming a volunteer?

Volunteering with Toybank is absolutely free of cost.

Will I get
a certificate if I become a volunteer?

Yes, and this depends on the length of time and the quality of the volunteering
effort that you put in. We discourage people from volunteering who are just doing
it for the sake of the certificate.

I want to
intern with Toybank. How do I go about it?

Request your institution to send us a formal letter stating your interest in doing
an internship with us. Please do mention the duration of internship and the area
of interest. After this we will schedule an interview to finalise the details of
your internship.